Pacquiao to finish Baguio training on Friday

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – After 3 weeks of high-altitude training in the City of Pines, Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao will wrap up his training camp in Baguio City on Friday.

Pacquiao, who is due to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown against Shane Mosley on May 7, will return to Manila on Saturday for one more boxing session before eventually heading off to Los Angeles, California.

The pound-for-pound king already had two 4-round sparring sessions with training partners Shawn Porter and David Rodela since Tuesday.

Boxing coach Freddie Roach plans to increase this to 6 sparring rounds on Thursday to further improve Pacquiao’s timing.

“He’s not 100% okay yet, especially in his timing,” Roach said in a Philboxing.com report. “He’s a little bit cautious with his moves, but that’s understandable. I can see him improving a lot before we leave for Los Angeles on Saturday.”

Conditioning coach Alex Ariza said they are also working on improving Pacquiao’s endurance.

Ariza said this will come in handy when Pacquiao fights the 39-year-old Mosley.

“We’re trying to build up his endurance,” Ariza said in Philstar.com. “That will be a big factor during the fight.”

Team Pacquiao is expected to fly to the US on Saturday night.

They will continue Pacquiao’s training camp in Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. -- With a report from Dhobie de Guzman, ABS-CBN News North Luzon